The Way She Moves
by Aria Taylor
Summary: Percy Jackson is a below average student with no ambition and no plans for the future. Annabeth Chase is an above average student with a whole list of plans for the future. Percy is the bad boy. Annabeth is a ballerina. And as they go through the ups and downs of life's crazy messes, they somehow find themselves tangled up in a little thing called love. Percabeth AU. Rated T.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: All PJO characters belong to Rick Riordan.**

Chapter One

Percy blamed the old ladies.

Really, truly, honestly if it weren't for them, he would probably be on time for school every day. These three old ladies sat on the side of the road at a fruit stand every day without fail. In Percy's valid opinion, the fruit looked gross and completely inedible, but the tourists ate it up, literally. The sidewalk was packed with people – even more so than usual – and it always took Percy forever getting through the mass. Also, the old ladies were creepy. They sat in their chairs and knitted – which wouldn't seem all that strange, considering that they were old women – but they all took part in knitting one giant sock. Just one, and it was giant, like they were making it to fit a god or something. And every time Percy squeezed through to get to school, all three of them would stare at him like they were watching his life flash before their eyes.

So yeah, the old ladies were creepy and that was the reason he was always late. Yet his school's administration never seemed to understand where he was coming from when he tried to explain the situation to them.

All of this was going through Percy's head as he ran through the school hallways. He'd slept through his alarm clock and woken up twenty minutes before school started, which wouldn't have been a big deal (he lived ten minutes away from the school anyway) except for the old ladies. They added an extra ten minutes to his trip, so now he was sprinting through the halls, trying to get to class before the final bell rang.

Percy burst through the door of his history classroom just as the final bell rang. A triumphant grin spread across his face and he heard a few students laugh at his predictable entrance. He came in like this almost every day. Flashing his classmates a charming grin, he began sauntering over to his seat. The deep, ancient voice of his teacher, Mr. Brunner, stopped him in his tracks, though.

"Ah, Mr. Jackson," Mr. Brunner began, "what a true surprise it is to see you come in late." He paused and shot Percy a fake sympathetic look. "The fruit stand, again?"

Percy brushed off his condescending tone and grinned instead. "Actually, I _was_ on time today, but I heard someone in the hallway say that you _weren't_ the best teacher ever, so I had to beat him up, obviously. My apologies."

The whole class laughed. Mr. Brunner just sighed and told Percy to go have a seat. Percy couldn't keep the victory smile off of his face. He turned and went to find his seat in the second row of desks. Before he sat down, however, he caught the eye of the girl sitting behind him.

Annabeth Chase. Percy was pretty sure that that was her name. Annabeth kept to herself, much to the disappointment of every guy at Goode High School. She was gorgeous. She had these curls that looked like dripping honey and soft, clear skin that flushed red every time she caught anyone looking at her. Her eyes were like the eye of a hurricane. Percy had sat in front of her every day last year and for the first month that they'd been in school this year. At first, it was difficult not to be entranced by her, with her shy smile and graceful movements. The word around school was that she was a competitive ballet dancer. Not hard to believe, seeing as how she practically ran out of school every day after the last bell with a gym bag on her shoulder and a pair of ballet slippers peeking out. Ballet was her life, everyone said, so Percy gave up trying to talk to her long ago. Now, in his mind, she was known as the pretty girl who sat behind him in history class.

Percy shot her a small smile, trying to be friendly. Annabeth swallowed and looked down at her open notebook, her face turning red. Percy allowed himself a small, maybe-a-little-smug smile as he turned around in his seat to face the front of the class.

Percy hated history class. Sure, Mr. Brunner was cool, especially when they had Tournament Fridays and he dressed up like a guy from whatever era they were studying. (Last year, when they were studying the Roman Empire, Mr. Brunner had shown up in a full-on toga. Percy had to give him credit – the guy was committed.) He tried to get everyone involved, but it's hard to get a class full of high schoolers excited about history at eight in the morning. Percy was probably one of the most uninterested students in the class. He fell asleep half the time, much to the dismay of Mr. Brunner. Percy couldn't help it – history didn't interest him.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the bell rang, signaling freedom. At least, freedom during the five minute passing period. Percy jumped up and booked it for the door, almost shoving Annabeth into the doorway in his haste to get out of the classroom. She let out a little gasp and a few papers flew out of her hands and scattered onto the floor.

"Oh man," Percy apologized, bending down to help her pick them up. "Sorry about that. I didn't see you there."

Percy handed Annabeth back the papers she had dropped. They looked like normal history notes and Percy probably would have dismissed them if it hadn't been for the perfect handwriting. Each letter looked like it had been typed instead of written. It was so perfectly aligned.

Annabeth took the papers out of Percy's hands and neatly placed them back in her folder. Percy found it weird how her movements were jerky, like she was nervous, but he shrugged it off and joked, "You have really great handwriting. Hey, do you think you could—" He was going to ask jokingly if she could teach him to write like that, but was cut off when Annabeth briskly brushed past him and into the hall.

"—embarrass me in front of all these people," he finished, watching Annabeth's retreating form. Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked around the busy hallway, hoping nobody had seen him get stood up by a girl. Percy never got stood up by girls. In fact, he had every girl at Goode High School wrapped around his finger. Well, almost every girl. Annabeth Chase sure didn't seem to like him.

Percy was saved from humiliation, however, as a familiar form sidled up to him, wrapping a slender arm around his waist. Percy turned his head to the side and grinned at his girlfriend, Drew Tanaka.

Drew Tanaka wasn't beautiful. Drew Tanaka was _hot_. She was wicked hot with long, sleek black hair and tan, flawless skin. She modeled makeup and was always getting free cosmetics, so every day at school, she was constantly showing off her new highlighter or lipstick. Today, her cheeks glimmered gold and her lips were a tempting red. She wore a little sundress, much to Percy's enjoyment. Her long, tan legs were definitely one of her best features.

"Hey," he greeted, leaning down to kiss her. Drew complied, her lips moving expertly with his, setting him on fire in all the right places.

"Hey," she replied when they pulled apart. She moved away from him and began sauntering down the hall. Percy had to jog a little to catch up to her, but when he did, he threw his arm across her shoulders and bumped her hip with his. "How was English?" he asked as they made their way to the only class that they shared: Algebra 3.

Drew rolled her eyes. "Boring, as usual," she replied in her usual annoyed tone. Drew was usually annoyed at something at all times. "I swear, Blowfish puts more thought into the books we read than the authors did."

Percy huffed out a laugh in agreement. Mr. Blofis (a.k.a. Blowfish) was the seniors' English teacher and he was probably one of the smartest people Percy knew, which was fine. Good for him. Except that Mr. Blofis expected his students to be as smart as he was when they clearly weren't. Half of Percy's class fell asleep during Mr. Blofis' lectures but Mr. Blofis was too caught up in what he was teaching to notice. Percy should know. He was one of those kids who fell asleep.

"Is he still dating your mom?" Drew asked, bringing light yet again to the fact that Percy tried so hard to forget.

"Yes," he answered darkly. Percy's mom and Mr. Blofis had been dating since the end of last year. Percy had hoped and prayed that it would just be a short little fling that would end soon, but here they were at the beginning of the new school year and his mom and his English teacher were still dating. It made Percy cringe every time he thought of it. "Yeah, let's not think about that right now," he amended, changing the subject. "Are you going to Beck's party tomorrow night?"

Drew's eyes lit up at the mention of a party. Drew loved parties. She launched into a detailed description of what she was going to wear and Percy took that as his cue to tune her out. He began looking out across the crowded hallway, his eyes landing on a pretty brunette who was freshening up her make-up at her locker. She looked like she was a sophomore, or maybe even a freshman, but she was pretty enough to gain Percy's attention. As him and Drew walked by, he caught the girl's eye and gave her a small smile. Her cheeks turned red and she quickly glanced away. Percy grinned to himself. It was too easy, really.

"Percy!" Drew complained as they reached their math class. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," he stammered. When Drew shot him an unconvinced look, he gave her a relaxed smile and said, "Black dress, black pumps, curled hair. You'll look sexy." He gave her a kiss on the lips to calm her down a bit before steering her into the classroom.

Drew kept texting him in class, but Percy's mind was on the pretty brunette in the hall and whether or not she would be at the party tomorrow night.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Percy, you're losing your game."

Percy rolled his eyes and turned to face Ethan. "Please, Nakamura, I'm almost positive I've been with more girls just this first month of school than you had all last year." Ethan laughed good-naturedly and even Percy had to crack a grin.

Ethan Nakamura had been Percy's best friend since freshman year. The two of them, along with Nico di Angelo and Matt Sloan, basically had ruled the school since they started there. Girls wanted to be with them and guys wanted to be them. It was a nice feeling to be wanted and, as Percy had quickly found out, it was addictive.

The party was hyped all around Percy. Charles Beckendorf, quarterback of the football team and a distant friend of Percy's, was hosting it and Beck always threw the best parties. He was rich, so there was great food, great music, and, of course, a big house filled with rooms for fun nights. Usually by now, Percy would already be in a room, either with Drew or some other girl he had picked up in Drew's absence, but he wasn't tonight, for a couple of reasons. For one, Drew was too close to him. Usually, at these things, she would make her rounds, talking with people and dancing around, but tonight, she was staying near to him, making it impossible for Percy to steal a girl and slip away.

Another reason was that he was thinking about the brunette girl in the hallway. He hoped she would be here, though underclassman didn't come to these parties unless invited by an upperclassman. Still, that didn't stop his eyes from searching through the horde of teenagers grinding against each other on the dance floor, looking for her.

"Seriously, man, what's biting you?" Ethan pressed. "Usually, you'd already be upstairs, tangled up with some girl whose name you don't even know."

Percy shrugged and evaded the question by asking, "And what about you? Where's your girl?"

Ethan laughed bitterly. "Not here," he answered, taking a big swig of his drink. "She dumped me."

Percy covered up his snort by taking a drink of his own drink. Ethan was a player, just like Percy, but they had different methods of going about it. While Percy's method consisted of mostly one night stands, Ethan would actually date a girl until he (or she) got tired of it. The latest girl of Ethan's was a small, shy girl that he had met over the summer. She'd had Ethan whipped for the longest time and he had dated her longer than any of his other girlfriends: a whole three months. Apparently, though, three months was all Ethan was going to get.

"Sorry, man," Percy apologized, though he felt no sympathy. "That sucks."

"She caught me and some girl making out at a party," Ethan explained. "She just turned and walked out of the party. Wouldn't even listen to my explanation. She still hasn't spoken to me."

Percy tried to feel bad. He really did. It was just difficult for him, maybe because he didn't understand how Ethan could be so vulnerable in his relationships. That was the thing about Ethan: he got so invested into his girlfriends. He opened up to them as if they were going to get married, only to have the relationship end a few weeks later and leave Ethan heartbroken. Percy couldn't imagine a girl ever hurting him; maybe because he never let himself open up while in a relationship. Drew and him, they had an understanding. Neither one wanted to be tied down to the other. Besides, Drew was too hot to be kept all to Percy and Drew knew that. They had agreed that they were free to fool around with whoever whenever they wanted, as long as it was just that: fooling around. Drew would never agree to Percy's antics at parties, but then again, she didn't have to know, did she?

Ethan was still going on about his breakup when another very drunk member of their group ran up to them.

"Hey," Matt Sloan drawled, a red Solo cup in his hand. "You'll never guess what just happened." He launched into a story about some girl making out with him on the diving board by the pool, but Percy wasn't really listening. His gaze had zeroed in on the pretty brunette from the hallway who had just walked into the house, accompanied by Luke Castellan. Percy had to hold back a sneer. Luke Castellan was also on the football team and he had the looks of an American All-Star, with his perfectly tan skin and shiny blonde hair. He could also have been the poster boy for arrogance, because he reeked of cockiness. Percy hated him.

He slapped both Ethan and Matt and the shoulders. "Excuse me, gentlemen, but I'm going to have to excuse myself. A pretty girl is practically calling my name." Both Matt and Ethan whooped and called out encouragements as he walked away. Percy grinned at the ridiculous antics of his friends before locking eyes with the brunette. She smiled shyly as he walked up, and Percy could tell based on the way that she pulled away from Luke a little as he approached that she was as good as his.

"Hey," Percy greeted, giving her the adorable lopsided grin that all the girls loved. "Saw you in the hallway at school today. Your makeup looked great, by the way."

The girl's smile brightened at that. Percy had found out a long time ago that if you complimented a girl on her makeup, she was five times happier than before.

"Thanks," the girl replied, timidly tucking a piece of her long dark hair behind her ear. "I'm Marianne," she introduced herself.

"Marianne." Percy liked the way her name sounded on his lips. He grinned viciously, thinking that this was just too easy. "I'm Percy Jackson."

 **Hey, followers. So, yeah, I know, it's been a while. Could I possibly make it up to you with a new story? This idea has been in my head for a long time and I had a whole novel's worth of ideas for it, so I just decided to write it. I'm going to be speed writing this, trying to get out a chapter every couple of days so I can get it done before I go back to school. (It's my senior year, guys. I'm freaking out.) I hope you all enjoy it though! Maybe leave a review? Follow? Favorite?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: All PJO characters belong to Rick Riordan.**

Chapter Two

"I just don't think this is going to work out," Percy said, fake sympathy oozing from his voice. "I'm sorry."

Marianne sniffled. Percy had to give her credit – the girl was strong. During this entire conversation, her eyes had been glossy, but she wasn't allowing one tear to fall. Percy was impressed.

"So—so you don't want me?" Marianne asked in that quiet, timid voice of hers. "I'm not good enough for you?"

Percy had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. He'd heard this argument a thousand times. "No, no, that's not it." He was quick to reassure her. "Of course you're good enough for me. You're gorgeous, Marianne."

That seemed to soften her up. She sniffled again, but gave him a small smile.

"But I just can't be tied down," Percy continued, watching with muted disinterest as Marianne's face fell. "I've gotta live my life, you know? Meet new people, see new places. And you're what, a freshman? I'm a senior. I'm graduating this year anyway, and you'll be stuck here in high school. This relationship can't go anywhere, you see?"

Marianne shrugged. "I guess," she answered solemnly. Percy saw that she was about to break down in tears any second. Wanting to avoid the waterworks, Percy tipped her chin up and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. She sighed into his mouth.

"There you go," he reassured. "Don't cry. It'll be alright."

Marianne wiped away a tear that had leaked out. She took a deep breath and gave Percy a watery smile. "Sorry," she said. "See you around." Then she turned and walked off. When she was out of hearing distance, Percy let out a sigh of relief. That had been a lot less painful than he had thought it would be.

The day after the party, Marianne had texted Percy, asking if he wanted to go out to the movies with her and her friends that night. Immediately, a red warning signal had gone off in Percy's brain. No, no, no, no. Percy didn't date. Sure, he had a girlfriend, but they didn't really do dates. And if he and Drew didn't date, then he certainly wasn't going to date Marianne, which appeared to be her intention. He knew that he had to put a definite end to what had happened with Marianne and he'd dreaded it all weekend. Most of the time, in these situations, there were tears and yelling and sometimes even hitting. Percy was experienced in all areas of breakups. Thankfully, Marianne had taken it well and now, Percy could go on with his life.

He sauntered down the hall, thinking that at least he would be on time for class. Mr. Brunner would probably have a heart attack from his surprise.

And then suddenly there was an arm around his neck and Percy almost had a heart attack himself. He jumped up in the air, elbowed the guy who had him in a neck hold, and whirled around, only to find Ethan was standing there, laughing his head off while clutching the spot on his stomach where Percy elbowed him.

"Dude," Percy said, a little miffed at having been scared. "Give a guy a warning next time." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked around the hall to see if anyone had noticed. Thankfully, nobody socially important had seen.

"Sorry, man," Ethan apologized, though he was still laughing so it didn't feel genuine. "It was just too easy."

Percy grunted and continued walking, pulling his backpack higher up on his shoulder. Ethan followed, running a hand through his wavy brown hair and winking at a couple girls standing at their lockers. The girls blushed and turned to each other, giggling. Percy rolled his eyes.

"What?" Ethan asked. Percy shot him a look and now it was Ethan's turn to roll his eyes. "Please, like you're any better. Hey, how'd it go with Marianne, by the way?"

Percy shrugged. "She took it well, thank God. I was worried she would be one of the crying, blubbering ones."

"She didn't cry?"

"A little bit. Held it in, for the most part."

"Impressive. Does Drew know?"

Percy didn't answer, but shot him a sly smile that said very clearly that no, Drew did not know and that Percy had gotten away with it yet again. Ethan laughed and clapped a hand on Percy's shoulder. "You, my man, are truly a legend."

Percy laughed and turned in front of Ethan so that he could make it into his history classroom. "Hey, this is my stop. See you at lunch?"

"I don't know, man. There's this pretty girl in my Spanish class that I might try to talk to. See you whenever, I guess." And with that, Ethan was off. Percy chuckled and shook his head, walking into his own class. It was crazy how fast Ethan could pick himself back up after a breakup. It had only been a few days and yet, there he was, going after a new girl. Maybe he and Percy had more in common than Percy had originally thought.

Percy made his way to his seat, ignoring Mr. Brunner's surprised gaze. Most of the class was already here, though they weren't in their seats. A few people were milling about, talking to people. Percy heard one guy trying to convince one of the girls who sat in the back to let him copy off of her homework. Percy himself hadn't done the homework either, but he didn't particularly care. He settled into his seat and leaned back, waiting for class to start. A quick glance at the clock told him that they still had a couple of minutes.

"You're early."

The small voice surprised him. He turned around to find Annabeth Chase sitting behind him, looking at him with a shocked expression. She looked gorgeous, as always, even though she was just in a pair of skinny jeans and a sweater. Her textbook was already open to the page that Mr. Brunner had written on the whiteboard and her notebook turned to the weekend's homework assignment, finished and looking pristine with that perfect handwriting of hers. Her pencil was in her hand and she was gripping it so hard, her knuckles were white.

Percy had to bite back a smile. She was nervous.

He raised an eyebrow instead. "And is that such a surprise?"

Annabeth shrugged. "I mean, we've been in school for thirty-eight days, and for thirty-seven of those days, you've run in late looking like you just rolled out of bed. So yes, this is a surprise."

A corner of Percy's mouth tipped up. "Thirty-seven days?"

"You were on time the first day of school," Annabeth explained, her face in a deadpan.

Percy allowed himself a full-fledged smile. "You've been paying attention, haven't you?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, although her cheeks were quickly filling up with color. She huffed in annoyance and flipped to a fresh page in her notebook, dating it and titling it with the day's topic: Roman Rulers. Percy watched her pencil move across the paper as she looped the letters together. It was entrancing.

"I've sat behind you every day for this year and all of last year," Annabeth explained, not looking up at him. "Of course I've been paying attention."

Percy raised his eyebrows. He wondered what _that_ meant. But before he could inquire any more, the bell rang and Mr. Brunner wheeled himself away from his desk and began class. Percy was forced to turn back around in his seat and though he couldn't see Annabeth anymore, the image of her stayed in his mind long into Mr. Brunner's lecture.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

After school, Percy and his friends were in the student parking lot, crowded around Matt's car.

Matt Sloan was rich. His dad owned some big publishing company, so Matt lived in this huge and expensive loft in the Upper Manhattan area. He always had on the nicest clothes out of all four of them and he was the only one who actually had his own car: a sleek red 2016 Ford Mustang.

"How'd it go with Marianne today, Perce?" Matt asked, grinning wickedly, like he hoped that it hadn't gone well. Percy had to hold back a sneer.

Out of their little group, Matt Sloan was Percy's least favorite. The guy was arrogant and ornery and acted like because he was rich, everyone owed him something. They often clashed because Percy didn't think he owed the guy anything.

Instead of sneering, Percy matched Matt's wicked grin with his own. "Went well, actually," he answered. "I won't be seeing any more of her for a while."

"Unless you want to," Nico piped up, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Percy grinned at him. Nico di Angelo was the final member of their little group, and Percy loved the guy. He could be dark sometimes, he always wore black, and he had on combat boots practically every day. He dressed like he was a big, tough dude and he probably could have pulled off the look if he weren't as small as a mouse. His personality also contradicted the whole emo look. Nico was a little chatterbox and he was constantly cracking jokes.

"Ah, there she is," Matt said, switching the subject. He shifted, leaning against his car and staring at someone walking out of the building. Percy squinted, trying to see who it was. He sucked in a curious breath when he finally did make out the person.

"Annabeth Chase?" he questioned Matt while watching Annabeth hurry off campus, her gym bag bouncing on her hip. A pair of pointe shoes fell out of the bag and Annabeth hurried to bend down and pick them up, shoving them back in her bag as she walked. "What do you have to do with her?"

"She's gonna be my next conquest," Matt said matter-of-factly.

Nico, Percy, and Ethan all burst out laughing at that.

"Seriously, dude?" Ethan said. "Annabeth?"

"What?" Matt defended. "She's hot."

Percy snickered and Matt shot him a glare. Percy shrugged. "I agree with Ethan, man," he said. "No one's gotten anywhere with Annabeth Chase. She's too driven to mess around with any of us."

Matt rolled his eyes. "I could get her."

"In your dreams, maybe," Nico muttered. Percy and Ethan cracked up at that and Matt just sighed, rolling his eyes again.

Percy glanced down at his watch. It read 3:17. "Oh, crap. I've gotta get home. My mom's having company over tonight and she told me I have to help her clean up the apartment."

Percy decided to leave out the part that their "company" tonight was actually Mr. Blofis and that he was coming over for dinner because his mom was trying to slowly integrate him into their way of life. He decided to leave out the part where Percy was struggling to decide whether or not he wanted Mr. Blofis to _be_ a part of his life.

Percy made a quick escape, ignoring all of the comments about how he was a momma's boy and that his apartment was trash anyway so why clean it. He walked out into the streets of Manhattan and began his trek home, getting there in ten minutes flat. When he opened his apartment door and was hit with the delicious smell of chocolate chip cookies, a smile spread across his face.

"Percy?" he heard his mom call from the kitchen. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, Mom, it's me," he replied, dropping off his backpack in his room and quickly running back to the kitchen. His mother, Sally Jackson, was standing at the counter, mincing some meat that was in a bowl. Percy went up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Sally jumped a little but quickly relaxed into Percy's embrace.

"I made cookies," she told him and pointed to the stove, where a fresh batch of blue chocolate chip cookies sat. When Percy pulled away and made a beeline for the stove, Sally called out a warning, "Don't eat them all. Save some for Paul for tonight, okay, Cookie Boy?"

Percy nodded and shoved one of the cookies into his mouth whole. The familiar sweetness melted onto his tongue and relaxed his whole body. He reached for another.

Yeah, he knew the blue food thing was weird. He never really told anyone about it because the guys would probably make fun of him for it. Besides, it was a special thing that was between him and his mom. An inside joke, Percy guessed. Blue was Percy's favorite color, so she always put blue food dye in his chocolate chip cookies. When Percy was younger, his mom had married this really awful guy who hounded her for everything, including the blue cookies. He argued that there was no such thing as blue food. Ever since that moment, Sally had gone out of her way to make everything she cooked blue. Blue eggs, blue tacos, blue spaghetti. It had made Percy's stepdad furious. He was long gone now, but Sally and Percy liked to remember that little victory by still making blue food.

"I got a call today," Sally explained, still mincing the meat. "A scout from some college in North Carolina. He asked if you were still swimming."

The cookies in Percy's belly suddenly felt like boulders. A familiar anxious feeling began swirling in his gut.

"I told him you weren't," Sally still went on, "but it made me realize; Percy, you've got to start making some decisions soon. I know it's the beginning of your senior year and it feels like you've got all the time in the world, but you don't. Before you know it, you're going to have graduated and you're going to have to make a decision about college."

Percy swallowed the heavy lump in his throat. "I know," he replied. "And I will. I promise."

Actually, he was kind of hoping that maybe if he ignored the problem of graduation and college, it might just disappear. Of course, he knew that it was realistically unsound and impossible, but it still didn't stop him from hoping that maybe time could slow down for a little while so he could figure things out. Right then, he felt like a little kid on the back of a train that was going a hundred miles an hour and all he could do was hold on and pray that he wouldn't fly off.

Sally turned around and looked back at Percy with one of those small smiles that moms wore when they thought about their kids getting older.

"You're going to college in a year," she said in a sad tone. "My baby's almost all grown up."

Percy shot her a toothy smile. Sally rolled her eyes and turned back to her minced meat. "Go vacuum the living room," she instructed. "And no more cookies until after dinner!"

Percy groaned but went and did as he was told.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Mr. Blofis – or "Paul" as he insisted that Percy call him when they weren't at school – really wasn't that bad to have around.

Percy hated admitting it, of course. Every fiber of his teenage self wanted to throw tantrums and tell Paul that he didn't deserve Sally and just cause a general ruckus, but he couldn't because, well, Paul kind of _was_ the perfect match for Percy's mom.

They had met at the end of last school year, when Sally had come to pick up Percy for their annual end-of-school trip to Montauk beach. Paul had caught Percy outside of the school and was talking to him about an assignment when Sally had pulled up. From the moment they first laid eyes on each other, they were entranced. Paul had fumbled through his introduction and Sally had blushed and it had been pretty painful to watch.

The thing was, Sally wanted to be a writer. Paul was an English teacher so, naturally, he loved writing. When they had found out these things about each other, it had been a match made in heaven. They had begun meeting at the library, at coffee shops, and even at the park. Sally would give him a piece of her writing and Paul would help her edit it and make it better. Eventually, Paul got the nerve to ask her out on an actual date and the two had been dating ever since.

This was a good thing. When Percy left in a year, Sally wouldn't be alone, which is one thing Percy had been worried about for forever. But it still didn't take away how weird it was to have another person in their family.

"So, Percy, how's school been going for you?" Paul asked before taking a big bite of potatoes.

Percy shrugged. "Alright, I guess," was his short reply.

"How's Drew?" Paul pressed, obviously still trying to pull Percy into the conversation.

Another shrug. "Good."

Paul didn't know about Percy's whole girl situation, thank God. If Paul knew that Percy went through girls like Apple went through iPhones, he would tell Percy's mom, and Percy would never see the light of day again. Thankfully, Paul seemed mostly oblivious to all of the drama that happened at Goode High School and Percy prayed that it would stay that way, at least until he graduated.

Paul let out a little sigh and turned the conversation back to Sally, complimenting her on the fantastic meal. Percy ate the rest of his food in silence, not really even listening to Paul and Sally's conversation. When the meal was done, Percy automatically began cleaning the dishes off of the table and bringing them into the kitchen to be washed. Percy's mom had gone into the living room at Paul's request, leaving the men to do the cleaning up. Sally tried not to show it, but she was touched by the gesture.

"There's something I wanted to talk to you about, Percy," Paul said as the two stood cleaning the dishes.

Percy furrowed his eyebrows and shot Paul a questioning look.

"I . . . well, I guess you know that I love your mother," Paul stammered. "And I would do anything for her."

"Yeah," Percy said, mostly because he didn't know how else to respond. "I know."

"And . . . well . . . I want to marry her."

Paul said it so fast that Percy almost missed it. When the words sunk in, though, Percy dropped the plate he'd been scrubbing. It fell into the sink with a splash.

"Oh." Percy's head felt like mush. He blinked, trying to get a handle on what this meant. Paul wanted to marry his mother. Paul was going to be his stepdad. Paul was going to be a part of his family.

Percy had to grab onto the sink to keep from falling.

"I know it's been just you and your mom for a long time," Paul continued. "And I don't want to intrude on what you two already have. But Percy, I love your mother. She means everything to me and I just want to have a chance to be with her and, you know, have a life with her."

Percy wasn't sure how he felt about the situation, but hearing Paul talk about how much he loved Percy's mom definitely didn't make him opposed. Percy nodded. "Yeah. That's fine. That's great, actually. I know she'll say yes."

Paul let out a huge sigh of relief, like that had been weighing on him for quite some time. "Awesome. I'm so glad you're okay with this, Percy. I know it's kind of weird having your mom date your teacher, but I hope you'll be happy for us."

Despite all of the emotions mixing together in Percy's gut, he managed to smile and say, "I'm happy for you."

Paul stayed a little while longer, just cuddled on the couch with Sally, before excusing himself to go home and grade papers. About an hour later, Percy excused himself to go to bed. So many thoughts were flying through his head. He needed to clear it.

After undressing and brushing his teeth, Percy climbed into his bed, pulling out his phone and opening up Instagram. He figured that maybe losing himself in what all of his friends were doing might help him forget about the fact that Paul would be proposing to his mother.

He scrolled through all of the usual stuff: selfies, inspiring quotes, pretty scenic photos. Matt had uploaded a picture earlier that afternoon. It was of him, Nico, and Ethan, all three posing with their arms crossed and tough looks on their faces in front of Matt's swimming pool.

 _It takes a man to swim in 50-degree weather_ , the caption read. The boys had their shirts off in the picture and a lot of girls had commented with the heart-eye emoji. Percy swallowed hard and turned off his phone, then switched off the lights.

He knew that if Paul hadn't come over that night, he would have been out swimming with the guys also. He knew that Matt didn't just post that picture to annoy Percy. He knew that he was still popular – much more popular than Matt was anyway. He knew all that, but it still didn't stop the jealousy from rising and the anxiety to swirl around in his stomach.

It was easier to forget during the day, when he was surrounded by people who worshipped him. It was easier to forget when he was at a party, drunk and making out with some girl. It was easier to forget when he had practiced almost his whole life _to_ forget.

But in the dark, when there was nothing and no one to distract him, it was easy to remember that Percy's greatest fear was being left alone.

 **And there you go! Chapter two! Thank you all so much for all of the positive feedback from the last chapter! I'm so glad that you all are liking this story as much as I like writing it. Thanks to every single person who reviewed, followed, and added it to their favorites. I'm giving you all virtual hugs!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: All PJO characters belong to Rick Riordan.**

Chapter Three

Paul was going to propose to Percy's mom. Paul was going to be Percy's new stepdad.

This kept running through Percy's head during English class the next day. Paul stood at the front of the class, lecturing on the chapters in A Tale of Two Cities that they were supposed to have read the previous night. Percy, of course, hadn't read them, so he probably should have been listening, but all he saw when he looked at Paul was his future stepdad.

At least his mom wouldn't be alone. Percy didn't realize how worried he had been for her until the weight had been lifted from his shoulders. For years, it had been just him and his mom. They were a tag team, the Jacksons against the world, and Percy had often stayed up late, wondering what would happen when he moved away and she was left all alone. She was too sensitive, too vulnerable to be left by herself. Percy had always thought of himself as her protector, a shield who kept her from all the terrible things in the world. Now, Paul could take on that role when Percy left. It was a huge relief.

But then it took away another excuse for Percy to dread graduation. Now that his mother would be taken care of, what was stopping him from being excited? He was about to start an entirely new life. There was nothing holding him back. Why was he still anxious about it?

"Percy."

Percy blinked, coming back to his surroundings. The entire class was looking at him and Paul stood at the front of the room, an expectant look on his face.

"Sorry," Percy quickly amended. "Could you maybe repeat that?"

The whole class snickered. It was typical of Percy to zone out in class and it was always amusing to his classmates, though Percy had no idea why.

Paul sighed, but even he had a small smile on his face. "I asked you why you think Dickens made Darnay and Carton twins."

"Oh." Percy sat up in his seat, desperately trying to come up with an answer. He hadn't actually read the book, so this proved to be especially difficult for him. He pursed his lips, thinking. "Maybe he just wanted to make it harder for Lucy to choose?" Percy knew that there was a love triangle in this book, so he thought his answer was pretty good.

Paul nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose," he answered, which let Percy know that his answer had been wrong. "Anyone else have an opinion."

A hand was raised and Paul's face lit up. "Yes, Miss Chase."

Percy's eyebrows shot up with interest and he turned around, eyes searching for Annabeth. She sat in the back corner of the class, her copy of the novel open in her hands and her notebook on her desk. Surprise filled Percy. He hadn't known that she was in this class.

"Is it because Darnay is everything that Sydney Carton isn't?" Annabeth answered, her voice soft but strong in the silence of the classroom. "Darnay was honorable, smart, and kind. Sydney Carton wasn't. He was a drunkard with wasted potential. So what if Dickens made them twins so that every time Carton looked at Darnay, it was a cruel reminder that Darnay was everything Carton wished he could be?"

Paul smiled. "Very good, Miss Chase. You see, in this novel, Charles Darnay is a sort of twisted mirrored reflection of Sydney Carton and it haunts Sydney. Imagine if you had a mirror in your house, but when you looked into it, instead of seeing a reflection of yourself, you saw yourself the way that you wanted to be. Tanner skin, smaller body, bright smile. Whatever you wanted it to be. Would you look into that mirror often?"

"Of course," Ethan piped up from next to Percy. "It'd be a confidence booster."

There were a few laughs across the room, but they were silenced when Annabeth's voice rang out. "But wouldn't it cruel?"

The whole class turned to look at her and color rose to her cheeks, but she looked straight over at Percy and Ethan as she continued, "I mean, every day you have to see this perfect version of you, but you know that it's _not_ you. No one else sees that perfect version of you. Wouldn't it be a sort of cruel torture?"

Percy didn't know what he was doing until he heard himself saying, "Yeah, but it doesn't really matter how other people see you."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows in a half-surprised, half-challenging kind of way. The rest of the class was silent, watching him, so Percy figured he better elaborate.

"When you look into this mirror, you see the person that you want to be, right? So if you look in that mirror enough times, eventually you'll believe that that's really who you are. And if you believe that you're that perfect version of yourself, then it gives you confidence and you're happy."

Annabeth stared at him and Percy couldn't quite read her expression. He looked up to the front of the room, saw Paul, and remembered that he was supposed to be relating this to a book. "I mean," he continued, "sure, seeing Darnay everyday could make Carton feel bad, but it could also inspire him to be a better man."

At first, there was silence. Percy never spoke up in class unless it was to crack a joke. Even Paul was too shocked to speak at first, but he quickly collected himself and a smile spread across his face. "Very good," he said. "Both of you, very good. Percy, very interesting take on the situation." Just then, the bell rang and all of the students jumped out of their seats and collected their things. Percy let out a sigh of relief. He had been immensely uncomfortable sitting under their scrutiny. He made a silent promise that he would never again answer a question in class.

"Dude," Ethan exclaimed, standing up and shouldering his backpack, "that was _insane_. When did you suddenly get all philosophical and crap?"

Percy shrugged. "It just comes naturally," he said, shooting Ethan an arrogant grin. Ethan rolled his eyes and marched out of the classroom, expecting Percy to follow. Percy did follow, but not before shooting a glance back to where Annabeth was still at her desk, carefully placing her things in her bag. As if sensing Percy's gaze, she glanced up and met his eyes. Her cheeks immediately turned red and she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, the action looking like it was a nervous habit. Their passing look only lasted a second before Annabeth shouldered her bag and made her way out of the classroom. Percy cocked his head and furrowed his eyebrows. Why was it that every time Annabeth spoke or even looked at him, she acted like she was nervous?

"Percy." Paul's voice broke through Percy's thoughts. Percy turned to the front of the room and found that Ethan was already long gone, leaving Percy and Paul alone in the classroom.

"Mr. Blofis," Percy replied, walking over to his desk.

Paul smiled at him. "Percy, your opinion in class today was absolutely outstanding."

"Thanks," Percy said, unsure of what else to say. Paul paused, like he wasn't sure what to say, before setting a strong hand on his shoulder and saying, "I'd like to hear you participate in class more. You're smart, Percy, whether you think so or not."

"Thanks," Percy repeated. He felt uncomfortable and had the sneaking suspicion that Paul was trying to have a moment with him. He scrambled to find an excuse to leave. "Um, I've gotta go or I'm going to be late to my next class, so . . ."

Paul nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes, of course. Go. Sorry to hold you up." Percy smiled at him before ducking out of the door and into the hallway.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

 _Annabeth's POV_

Annabeth swore in her head when she landed her pirouette and felt a sting run from her ankle and up her leg.

"That was a wobbly landing, Annabeth!" Miss Elizabeth called out above the music. "Fix it!"

The swearing got worse as Annabeth continued her routine, twirling and soaring through the air. Every time she landed on her ankle, pain flared up in her leg. Miss Elizabeth continued yelling out instructions at Annabeth, telling her that her landings were shaky and that she wasn't light enough when she was twirling in the air. Annabeth bit down on her frustration, pouring all of that emotion out into her dancing. When the routine was finished, Annabeth had tears stinging the backs of her eyes.

"Horrible," Miss Elizabeth chastised. "Come on, Annabeth, I know that you're better than what you just showed me." She paused, studying her. "You're thinking too much. You have to feel the music, let it soak through to your bones, and come out through your dancing."

Annabeth didn't answer her. She bent over at the waist and tried to catch her breath.

She heard Miss Elizabeth sigh. "Go take a break. We'll go over the routine again later. Amanda! Get into position." Annabeth limped off of the dance floor, catching the eye of Amanda as she ran over to her place. Amanda gave her a sympathetic look and Annabeth replied with a small smile.

When Annabeth made it over to the side of the studio, she collapsed onto the ground next to her bag and began undoing her point shoes. Sure enough, her ankle was swollen and as big as a water balloon. Sighing and cursing under her breath, Annabeth dug around in her bag and searched for her tape and bandages. She always kept the first aid supplies handy because it seemed that she was always hurting some joint of hers.

As she was wrapping up her ankle, she heard someone click their tongue in sympathy. She looked up and saw none other than Carrie Smith standing over her. Annabeth automatically cringed.

Carrie Smith was easily at the top of the list of people Annabeth loathed. She'd been at Annabeth's dance studio just as long as Annabeth had; that was to say, since kindergarten. She was a fantastic dancer, easily one of the best at the studio, but Annabeth would rather put needles in her eyes than tell her that. She was also beautiful, with long caramel colored hair and chocolate brown eyes. She had a fantastic body too, but Annabeth chose not to dwell too much on that.

The two of them had been in constant competition since they started dancing. Both of them had won more competitions than any other girl at the studio and during their recitals, usually one of them had the lead. Carrie got more lead roles than Annabeth during recitals, a fact that she loved to rub in Annabeth's face, but Annabeth won more competitions. She liked to remind Carrie of that when she was getting a bit too annoying.

"What do you want, Carrie?" Annabeth snapped, not having the patience to deal with her right then.

"That looks bad," she said, gesturing to Annabeth's ankle.

"Yeah, I noticed," Annabeth muttered, wrapping her ankle up extra tight in order to keep herself from punching Carrie.

Carrie sat down next to Annabeth and began sweeping up her hair into a bun. Annabeth looked up at her with a what-are-you-still-doing-here look. She put on an innocent expression and said, "So I heard about your little conversation in English today."

Annabeth's face reddened, partially with embarrassment and partially with anger. Carrie went to the same school as her and it was really annoying sometimes. Mostly because Carrie hung out with all the popular kids and Annabeth, well, _didn't_.

Also, there was the small issue of Percy Jackson. Annabeth most definitely did _not_ have a crush on him. That would have been ridiculous and impractical, given his reputation. No, she didn't have a crush on him. She just thought it was kind of cute how he ran into class late every day with his hair sticking up in all sorts of directions. And so maybe her stomach got all fluttery whenever she thought of his eyes. That didn't mean that she liked him. Unfortunately, Carrie didn't see it that way.

"So?" Annabeth asked, making sure her voice stayed level. She thought back to English class that day, and the conversation that had taken place there. It had bugged Annabeth all day. She wasn't used to someone speaking up against her during class discussions, and definitely not Percy Jackson. He was known for his history with girls, not for his brains. But there he had been, taking the position opposite of hers and arguing. Annabeth told herself over and over that she was replaying that conversation in her head only because it had surprised her.

And yet, there was still that small, stupid hope that maybe Percy had noticed her in that moment, noticed her in a different way than just a girl in a few of his classes. It was ridiculous, and it was small, but it was there.

Carrie shrugged and stood up, brushing a few stray hairs behind her ears. "Better watch that ankle, Annie," she said in a fake concerned voice. "You wouldn't want to seriously hurt it and not be able to compete." She shot Annabeth a smile dripping with poison and walked away.

Annabeth glared down at her ankle. She hated that girl. She _hated_ her. And bad ankle or not, she was going to cream her in every single competition she entered this year. Because when it came down to it, the best dancer was the one with the most passion and Annabeth loved ballet more than anyone.

Miss Elizabeth called Annabeth back. Annabeth limped over, took her position, and when the music started, she danced.

 **Sorry for the late update, but here you go! Chapter three. Review, maybe?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: All PJO characters belong to Rick Riordan.**

Chapter Four

The music blared through the speakers and thrummed through Percy. He closed his eyes and moved with it, careful to keep his grip on the red Solo cup in his hand. He brought it to his mouth and took a big swig, welcoming the familiar burn of alcohol as it ran down his throat.

Tonight, he wanted to forget. He wanted to forget his responsibilities and problems and insecurities. He wanted to get drunk enough that he couldn't even remember his own name. And he wanted to pick up as many girls as he could.

The cheers of those around him pounded into his skull and Percy joined them, reveling in the feeling of being a part of something, even if it was just a screaming mass of drunk high schoolers.

Someone handed him a cigarette. He took it with gratitude and smoked the whole thing.

He danced and danced and danced. He kissed girls. He drank shots and beer and even a little vodka. He stumbled around, babbling on about who knows what. He threw up a couple times. He danced some more. He kissed some more girls. And the longer the night lasted, the more tired he got until he could barely keep his eyes open he could barely _move_ and the lights were so so so

 _bright_

and Percy was stumbling out the door and away from the party away from the people and he didn't even care where he ended up in the morning as long as he ended up somewhere.

He had gone to that party to forget and be surrounded by people. And yet, even in the middle of the dance floor and a ton of people around him, Percy had never felt so lonely.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

He woke up to someone gently kicking him in the side.

At least, it was gentle at first. Then he was kicked again and again and again and each time hurt worse than the last. Irritation rose within him and he cracked open his eyes, ready to yell at someone, but was quickly blinded. He cried out and covered his eyes, tiny, searing spots of light dotting his vision.

"Careful," a familiar voice teased. "Don't stare directly into the sun."

Percy rolled over on his side and rubbed his eyes before slowly blinking them open. When he could see clearly again, he was met with the sight of wooden planks. "What the . . ." he trailed off, slowly looking around. It appeared like he was at some sort of playground, laying in one of those wooden castles with the slides. A huge apartment building rose up beside the playground and the loud sounds of Manhattan surrounded him. He tried to sit up in order to get a better look, but his head roared in disagreement and he laid back down with a groan.

"Yeah, careful," that voice repeated. It sounded like a girl. "You might be a little—"

Percy's stomach heaved so he pushed himself up, ignoring the pain in his head, and promptly began vomiting.

"—hungover," the girl finished. Percy continued vomiting, tears coming to his eyes at how much it hurt. He swore to himself, just as he always did when he was hungover, that he would never drink again. He hated this part of partying.

Finally finished, he wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his sweatshirt and slowly pushed himself over to the wall of the playground so that he could lean against it. When he was settled, he glanced over to see who the girl was who discovered him, and what he saw made his stomach sink.

Annabeth Chase was standing next to the playground with an amused smirk on her face. Percy groaned again, closing his eyes and wishing he could have been caught by anyone else. Even the freaky weird guy who sat in the back of Percy's math class shoving pencils up his nose would have been better than Annabeth, queen of the good girls.

He felt Annabeth jump up and take a seat beside him, careful to sit far away from Percy's neat little pile of vomit. "If it's any condolence," she said, "I'm not very happy to see you either."

Percy opened his eyes and glanced at her, eyebrows raised in a quizzical manner. He didn't _think_ that he had done anything to offend her, but at this point, who knew? He seemed to have ticked off everyone at his school one way or another.

She shrugged. "I have ballet," she explained. "You're lucky it's just practice this weekend and not a competition. You would've been left out here to fend for yourself."

Percy snorted at that. Like he couldn't fend for himself. Like this didn't happen all the time. He opened his mouth to say so, but nothing came out. Percy was suddenly violently aware that his mouth was drier than the Sahara Desert. Annabeth seemed to sense what was wrong because she dug around in her gym bag and produced a plastic water bottle, still cold from the refrigerator it had probably been in. She handed it to Percy.

Percy took it and gulped down more than half the bottle in three seconds. "Thanks," he said when he could speak again.

Annabeth stared at the near-empty water bottle in Percy's hands. "Wow," she blurted. "It's not like I needed that to get me through a ballet rehearsal or anything."

Percy glanced down at the water bottle in his hands and experienced something that strangely felt like guilt. "Sorry," he apologized, running a hand through his hair. "Long night."

Annabeth bit her lip and swallowed hard. "It's okay," she said. "I can just buy another one at the studio."

Percy nodded and an awkward silence fell between them. Percy desperately wanted to leave, but knew that he couldn't. For one, he had a pile of vomit next to him that he knew needed to be cleaned up. This was a children's playground, after all. Secondly, Annabeth hadn't been obligated to stop and give him her water. She'd done it out of the goodness of her heart, which would make Percy a real jerk if he bolted then. It didn't stop him from wanting to, though.

"So," he said, mostly just to fill the silence that had been stretching endlessly between them. "Do you come here often?"

He'd meant it to be sort of a joke. After all, this was a playground and teenagers weren't usually playing on playgrounds at seven-thirty in the morning. But Annabeth just nodded at a building across the street. "I live there," she answered.

"Oh." Percy studied the building. It wasn't an old building, like so many of the ones in this area, but it wasn't very new. It was made of brown brick and it had a pretty green canopy over the entrance with gold script that gave the name of the apartment building. Percy squinted, knowing that he wouldn't be able to read it. Curly script was torture on his dyslexic eyes.

He scrambled to find another subject to talk about. His eyes landed on her gym bag. "Aren't you going to be late to your practice?"

Annabeth shook her head. "No. Actually, practice doesn't start until eight, but I was gonna get there early and work on my routine a bit while I had the studio to myself." She paused, as if trying to decide if she was relaying too much information. "I have a competition next weekend," she finally said.

Percy studied her as she spoke. She looked pretty and relaxed in the early morning light, her curly hair tied back in a bun and her cheeks flushed from the late September cold. She wore a light pink pullover sweater, the neck wide enough for Percy to see the straps of the black leotard that she wore underneath, and a pair of black tights with rainbow leg warmers. Her left ankle was wrapped up like she had injured it somehow. Percy thought that maybe, in an alternate universe where she wasn't a dancer, she would be in the popular crowd. She was certainly pretty enough. Percy found himself staring at her lips. In an alternate universe, he might have wanted to kiss them.

He thought about what Matt had said the other day in the parking lot. Sitting here with her in the early morning, the sounds of Manhattan bustling around them, it wasn't hard to see why he would want her.

Percy shook his head, surprised at his sudden change in mood and at the thoughts and images running through his head. And yet, they didn't go away.

"So how was the party last night?" she asked, staring across the street at her building.

Percy shrugged. "Same old, same old," he answered. He'd been partying almost every Friday night for three years. They were kind of starting to get old now. For some reason, however, he just couldn't let himself quit going to them.

"Where are your friends?" Annabeth continued. The question startled Percy, maybe because it had just sunk in that they'd left him. This wasn't anything new, of course. He was sure his friends were passed out somewhere also. But every single time it happened, it hurt deep down inside. No amount of parties and girls could fix the fact that the next morning, he was all alone again.

He glanced over at Annabeth. Maybe he wasn't so alone this time.

"You should come to one sometime," he rambled. "It'd be a lot of fun."

Annabeth snorted. "Yeah, right. A brainiac ballerina at a high school party. I'm sure everyone would just be _dying_ to hang out with me."

Percy looked over and met her eyes, cracking a smile. "Come on," he teased, reaching over and brushing a strand of hair away from her face. Annabeth started a little, a look of shock settling over her face. Percy used this opportunity to move closer to her. "I bet you'd have a great time," he continued, changing his tone so that it sounded softer and more personal. He leaned in.

He wasn't actually going to kiss her. No, he'd save that part for later. He was just going to give her a little tease, like he did with most girls. He was just throwing out the bait and getting set up to reel her in. But before he could do anything, Annabeth shoved him away from her and jumped off of the playground.

"Did you just try to kiss me?" she asked, her voice wavering a little.

"Uh . . ." was Percy's brilliant answer. He was too shocked at what had just happened to keep a straight train of thought. No girl had ever pulled away from him before. No one. The fact that it had happened brought on a strong wave of loneliness and anxiety.

Annabeth's face was bright red. She gripped the strap of her gym bag so tightly that her knuckles were white. "Listen," she snapped, staring at a point right above Percy's head, "I am not one of your girls, okay? I'm not going to go to your parties, I'm not going to flirt with you, and I'm certainly not going to let you kiss me. Not now, and probably not ever. Okay?"

Percy stared at her.

Annabeth bit her lip and nodded. "Okay." She paused. "I, uh, I've got to go. See you later, Percy."

With that, she walked off. Percy watched her go until she had rounded the corner and got lost in the chaos of New York.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Percy's mom was a glowing ball of joy Monday morning and it was hard not to be happy for her. Apparently, Paul had planned a weekend getaway for the two of them that upcoming weekend. They were leaving Friday afternoon and heading to Montauk Beach where they would stay at a little cabin until they came back Sunday night. It had been so long since Sally had taken a vacation, even if it was just for the weekend, that she was overjoyed.

Percy was happy for her. Really, he was. He knew that Paul was probably planning to propose on this trip, and he knew that no one made Sally happier than Paul did. But it didn't stop dread from swirling around in Percy's stomach every time he thought about an engagement ring being on Sally's finger.

"I'm excited for you, Mom," Percy said after Sally finished rambling about how Paul had surprised her and how nice the pictures of the cabin looked and how truly, truly excited she was. "I think a weekend getaway is exactly what you need."

Sally shot him a look. "You're not just saying that because you're going to throw a big party while I'm gone, right?"

Percy gave her a smile, like, _who, me?_ The truth was, he had been thinking of throwing a party, but his apartment was just too small and rundown. And besides, his neighbors were bound to tell his mother if he had thrown a party while she was gone and he didn't want to risk his mother's wrath.

"I'm not," he promised. "And I hope you have fun this weekend. Really."

Sally smiled warmly at him and reached over the counter where he was eating his pancakes to ruffle his hair. Percy grimaced and brushed her hand away, but secretly, deep down, he enjoyed his mother's affection. She was the only person who really loved him no matter what he did.

He took another heaping bite of his pancakes.

"Oh, there's something I want to talk to you about," his mom announced as she continued cleaning the dishes, elbow-deep in suds. "It's about your father."

Suddenly, the happy, playful buzz in the air dissipated and a heavy emotional darkness settled over the room. Percy angrily stabbed his pancakes.

Percy had never known his father. The jerk had gotten his mom pregnant and then abandoned them before Percy had ever been born. He'd never tried to make contact with them, never tried to give his mom child support, never even sent a birthday card. He'd simply disappeared, like he'd never been there. Percy hated the guy.

Sally noticed Percy's sour expression and sighed loudly. "Percy, you don't even know what I was going to say."

Percy shot a look at the clock, stood up abruptly, and grabbed his bag off of the chair next to him. "Don't need to," he replied coolly, shouldering his backpack. "If it's about my dad, I don't want to hear it."

"Percy—"

"I'm late," Percy said angrily before briskly walking out of the apartment.

As usual, he was late to class. Big surprise there. He didn't even try to make up an excuse when Mr. Brunner asked. He just grumbled out an apology and took his seat without another word. Mr. Brunner continued with his lecture and for the first time, Percy actually tried to listen. Even a brief review of the American Revolution was better than thinking about his no-good excuse of a father. When class was over, Percy stood and gathered up his things, making a beeline for the door.

"Hey!" a small voice called out as he entered into the hallway. Percy felt a hand on his arm and he turned, surprised to find Annabeth Chase standing there, staring up at him with a bewildered expression.

She looked really good. She was in a dark blue tank top dress, which complimented her tan skin really nicely. She wore a big cream grandpa sweater and her blonde hair was hanging in curls around her face. In the chaos of the morning, he had completely forgotten about Annabeth and about the fact that he had tried to kiss her over the weekend. His face colored as the memory came back to him.

"Are you alright?" Annabeth asked and the question startled Percy.

"I'm fine," he answered curtly, not really in the mood to talk to her. He was in the mood to forget. Forget, forget, forget. That seemed to be his mantra lately.

Annabeth's expression told him that he didn't believe her, so he continued, "I just don't really feel all that well today."

Annabeth bit her lip – a nervous habit? She seemed to do that a lot – and said, "Well, I hope you feel better. You just came into class with this awful scowl. I thought someone had died or something." A faint smile ghosted her lips as she said that. "Um, well, I've got to get to class now. See you later, Percy."

Percy stared at her as she quickly walked down the hallway. When he couldn't see her anymore, he shook his head, trying to clear his mind. As he made his way down the hall to his next class, he saw Drew standing at her locker, reapplying her lipstick. A smile tugged at his lips.

He needed a distraction and nothing was a bigger distraction than Drew Tanaka.

 **So here's the unedited, absolutely awful, piece of crap chapter. Yeah, sorry. I sort of had writer's block and then I just couldn't make it flow well, and I don't know, I just struggled with this chapter for some reason. I hope you all liked it though. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up soon and that it'll be better written.**

 **So I sort of know where this story is going, but I just want to hear all of your opinions on it! What do you want to see in this story? It could be cute little headcanons that you want or maybe an interesting aspect of Percy or Annabeth's personalities or whatever. What do you think would make this story better? And if I don't use your idea, please don't be mad. As I said before, I already know where this story is headed. I already have my own ideas and opinions, but I just wanted to hear your thoughts!**

 **Review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: All PJO characters belong to Rick Riordan.**

Chapter Five

It was during fourth hour English when Percy's day took a turn for the worst.

It had gotten better first, actually. He had managed to mostly forget about the mention of his father. He wasn't really even worried about what his mom had to tell him. She was about to be engaged anyway, and once that happened, Percy was sure that whatever it was that had to do with his father would be swept under the rug in the excitement of getting married. That was the thing about his mom: she always stayed focused on the positive. And Percy's dad was definitely not a positive.

Drew had also helped to lighten up his mood a little bit too. They had spent all of second hour and most of third hour out in the sports equipment shed by the football field and, well, that had helped clear his mind a little.

Now, he sat in English class, listening to Paul lecture about A Tale of Two Cities. Honestly, it felt like they had been going over this book for years. Really, it had only been a few weeks, but surely they were almost finished with it, right? Percy was really tired of having to listen to an in-depth analysis of Sydney Carton's internal struggle and the symbolism of Lucy's character every day.

Percy glanced over to the side and made a face like he was slowly falling asleep to Ethan. Ethan, in turn, made a face like he was dying. Percy cracked a smile and glanced to the other side of him. A pretty girl sat there, studiously listening to Paul as he lectured. Percy was pretty surprised that he hadn't noticed her before. She had long auburn hair and pretty almond-shaped blue eyes. There was a smattering of freckles across her cheeks. As if she felt Percy's stare, she glanced over at him and immediately a bright red blush colored her cheeks.

Percy grinned.

"—due in three weeks," Paul was saying. Percy broke his gaze away from the girl beside him and up to the front of the room, where Paul was informing the class about a big project that was due in three weeks, apparently. He had moved over to his desk and pulled up a slide on the projector that explained all the details about the project. Percy's stomach sank.

"You'll be working in partners," Paul continued, and just as the class started chattering, trying to partner up with their friends, Paul yelled out, " _Which_ I've already chosen for you!"

A collective groan echoed throughout the class and Paul grinned. "Ah, yes, I know, I'm so cruel. Anyway, you'll be working in partners to create some representation of the French Revolution era. It can be anything: a short film, a poster, and yes, even a guillotine. The projects are due exactly three weeks from today and you'll all take turns presenting them with your partner. Does anyone have any questions?"

No one raised their hands. Paul waited for a second before saying, "Alright! There's only a couple minutes left of class, so I'll go ahead and read off your partners and then you're dismissed." He began listing off names and Percy listened for his, praying that he got someone smart. Annabeth's face jumped into his mind, surprising him. She would actually be the perfect partner for this project. Smart and pretty. A perfect combination.

His hopes were dashed, however, when he heard Annabeth's name being called along with Silena Beauregard, Beckendorf's girlfriend. Percy had met her a few times, mostly at parties. She was wicked hot, but hers and Beck's relationship seemed pretty serious, so Percy never tried anything with her.

Percy watched as Annabeth glanced at Silena, who sat a couple seats over from her, and smiled.

"Percy Jackson and Grover Underwood," Paul read out.

Percy's stomach dropped.

 _No_.

No. That had to be some mistake. Surely, Paul didn't put him with _Grover_ _Underwood_ of all people. Surely, his luck wasn't _that_ bad.

But Paul never corrected his mistake, even as Percy prayed that he would. He finished reading out his list of partners and then the bell rang and class was dismissed. Percy felt like saying every curse word he knew and maybe kicking a desk or punching a wall for good measure.

"Dude," Ethan said as they gathered their things and stood, "I got Malcolm Pace as my partner! I've got this thing in the bag." He paused, taking in Percy's sour expression. "Who's your partner?"

"Grover Underwood," he answered, his tone bitter. Ethan waited for a second, like he thought Percy was joking, before busting out in laughter. Percy suddenly felt like punching him.

"The crippled kid?" Ethan laughed as they entered into the hallway. "Dude, I swear, he's handicapped physically _and_ mentally. That guy is weird."

Percy just made a noise of agreement and walked with Ethan to the cafeteria for lunch. Ethan parted from him, still laughing as he made his way to their lunch table while Percy stood in line for food. A couple girls got in line behind him and said hi, giggling uncontrollably as they did so, but Percy didn't flirt with them like he normally would. Instead, he tried to think of ways to get out of this project.

Maybe he could just talk to Paul. After all, he was about to become his stepfather. Maybe that gave Percy some classroom benefits? Surely, if Percy just explained to him _why_ he couldn't be partners with Grover, Paul would switch them. If he just explained what had happened between them, it would all be okay.

Except, the thought of explaining what had happened chilled Percy to the bone.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Percy used to swim.

He had been swimming for as long as he could remember. His mom had started him when he was in kindergarten. At first, he just took lessons at their local YMCA. But when his teachers began noticing Percy's talent in the water, they suggested that she have him join a team. There were loads of competitive teams in New York, even ones for kids as young as Percy. His mom had been hesitant at first. Who would want their kindergartener to join a competitive swim team? But when she herself had seen how good of a swimmer Percy was, even at just five years old, she couldn't deny that with the right training, swimming could be Percy's future.

So in first grade, Percy had joined a swim team. It was just a small league that wasn't very competitive, and Percy had more talent than any of the other kids on his team, but he absolutely loved it. He felt at home in the water, more at ease than he ever felt at his actual house. And it was through water that he had met Grover Underwood.

Grover had been a swimmer also. They were on the same team in first grade. Grover wasn't as good as Percy was, but he had the same passion for water that Percy did, so they became fast friends. At first, swimming seemed like the only thing that they had in common, but as time went on, they realized that they were a lot more alike than they first thought. Both of them liked comic books and superheroes, both of them had an extensive collection of Nerf guns, and both of them loved to eat.

Both of them were outcasts at school too. Percy was dyslexic and ADHD, so he was impulsive and hyper and a lot of people thought he was dumb because he couldn't read. Grover was a huge nature freak. Even at six years old, he was constantly lecturing their classmates about not littering and how the wild animal population was dying at an alarming rate.

So they were both a little odd, but that didn't really matter. They had each other. They were best friends. Two peas in a pod. When Grover got into a really bad car accident in fifth grade, leaving both his parents dead and himself crippled, Percy had been there for him, making him smile and laugh when he was sad. When Percy's mom had married an abusive man and their house had been covered with a black cloud of anger and depression, Grover had been there, cheering him on at his swimming meets when his mom was stuck in bed, too tired and sad to get up.

They had been best friends and they were there for each other through all of the bullying and problems at home.

Freshman year, all of that changed. They were used to taking the same courses, but when they hit high school, suddenly, their schedules were all different. They barely had any classes together and they didn't even have the same lunch period. They hung out outside of school, of course, but even that began to happen less and less as Percy joined the varsity swim team and Grover joined different nature and science clubs. He became friends with Ethan, Nico, and Matt, who he had a lot of classes with. He grew out of his awkward phase. He got taller. His skin cleared. He grew more muscular from working out with the varsity swim team. Girls began talking to him. He got invited to parties. Popular people started hanging out with him. _He_ became popular, and the feeling of being like and even _wanted_ was so, so addictive. Before he knew it, he and Grover weren't even friends anymore. Percy began to view him like his new friends did: just a weird, handicapped kid that had no business with them.

Percy had changed completely throughout high school. He became meaner. He went through girls like he was a professional playboy. He made fun of people with all of his friends and he partied all the time.

The only thing that linked him to his old life was swimming, but even that part of him was quickly crushed.

It was his junior year. He had broken every school record for swimming that Goode had and he had countless colleges looking at him and offering him money for college. His mom had been so overjoyed by his success that she decided to tell him that his father had been a swimmer.

"He was one of the greatest swimmers ever," she had told Percy one night while they were sitting at the dinner table. "He swam in college and even had the Olympic team watching him. You have his talent." She had paused, smiling down at the table, lost in her memories. And then she said the one sentence that had shattered Percy's future in swimming, "When you swim, Percy, you're just like him."

Percy didn't want to be just like his father. His father had gotten his mom pregnant and ran. His father had abandoned them both and had never come back to see if they were alright. His father had _left_ them because he was too much of a coward to stay and help with the mistake that he had helped make.

At his next meet, Percy had hit his head while flipping and given himself a concussion.

That was the last time he had ever swam.

And all of it was his fault. Abandoning Grover was all his fault. Quitting swim and losing his only way into college was all his fault. Feeling lost, feeling lonely, feeling anxious about an unknown future, a future that he was terrified of because he didn't want to leave his mom, a future where a life surrounded by people who loved and admired him would mean nothing, a future where people forgot about him, a future where he didn't _matter_ – all of that was his fault.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Thankfully, the project wasn't due for another three weeks, so Percy was able to comfortably ignore Grover for the next week. Grover appeared to be doing the same thing because every time they saw each other in the hallway between classes or when they made eye contact in English, he would look away really fast and made no move to speak with him. That, at least, was a relief. Percy knew that at some point, he and Grover would have to work together, but at least they both seemed to be on the same page about delaying it until the last possible second.

Besides, Percy had a lot more important things on his mind than a stupid English project. Like how his mom was leaving that day to get proposed to. Percy had asked Paul about it that day after class, just to be sure, and he'd had his answer just by the way that Paul smiled.

So it was officially happening. His mom was getting engaged.

Okay.

Percy tried to forget about it. After all, it was his mom's life and she could marry whomever she pleased. He tuned in to the conversation that his friends were having at the lunch table. As usual, it was about some party. It was a Friday night after all.

"Who's all coming?" Ethan was asking Nico. Nico's dad was some huge businessman, so Nico and his family were rich. Nico was always throwing parties at his mansion, as was Matt. Maybe that was why Percy was closer to Ethan than he was to Nico or Matt. Ethan lived in an old apartment too. Ethan didn't come from money, just like Percy didn't.

Nico shrugged, taking a bite of his burger. "The usual," he said, his mouth full. "But also, my sister invited a bunch of girls from her school, and good news: they're all hot."

Ethan laughed and Percy had to smile. Bianca di Angelo was Nico's older sister, though many people thought that they were twins because they were in the same grade. Nico had skipped a grade; Bianca was actually a year older. She went to an all-girls academy over in Brooklyn, so Percy didn't really get to see much of her. She sometimes came to parties, usually with a posse of hot private school girls. Percy had made out with a lot of them and they were always willing to do it again. Their attitudes suggested that they thought that they were playing _him_ and it made Percy laugh to think of the irony of it.

"I'm sold," Matt declared, stealing one of Nico's chips. "Hot girls seal the deal for me."

Ethan echoed his agreement.

Nico looked over at Percy. "You coming, Perce?"

Percy grinned wickedly. "You know those Clarion Academy girls want some more of me," he said arrogantly, making all three boys laugh.

The conversation quickly turned to normal high school gossip: apparently Landon had slept with Mark's girlfriend and the two had fought it out in the courtyard earlier that day. Percy only half-listened, having already heard the story from Drew earlier. His eyes roamed the cafeteria, absently studying people until his eyes landed on one mostly-empty table in the far back corner by the trashcans. Only two people sat there: Grover Underwood and Annabeth Chase. Percy raised his eyebrows in surprise. He hadn't ever thought that the two of them might actually be friends.

Except, it looked like they weren't. Or, at least they weren't close friends. Grover sat on one side of the table, inhaling an enchilada and writing furiously in a notebook, a textbook open in front of him. Annabeth sat on the other side of the table, her food practically untouched, seeming too absorbed in the book she was reading to eat. Percy didn't realize that he was staring at her until the bell rang and Ethan slapped him on the back, causing Percy to jump.

"So," Ethan teased, standing to his feet and grabbing his trash. "Annabeth Chase, huh? Thought you said that no one could get anywhere with her."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Shut up. I'm not into her. I was just surprised at who she was sitting with."

Ethan looked over there, squinting his eyes a little. "Grover? You didn't know that? Yeah, she's been sitting with him ever since she transferred last year."

"Oh," Percy said, feeling a bit oblivious for not noticing sooner. Although, why would he notice? It wasn't like he was friends with either of them.

The four guys made their way out into the hallway. Ethan and Nico ran off to their next class and Matt ran off to gym. He was always complaining that having gym right after lunch was honestly just cruel torture, but Percy secretly thought that if anyone deserved it, Matt did. The guy was a jerk.

Percy himself went to his locker to grab his stuff for Bio. Drew was waiting for him there, looking absolutely delicious in her skinny jeans and blouse. She smiled as he walked up. "Hey, there," she greeted, moving aside so Percy could open his locker. "I missed you at lunch."

Drew and her friends usually ate lunch with Percy and the guys, but all of them had gotten lunch detention for passing notes during math class, which really wasn't a huge surprise. They were always getting lunch detention.

"I missed you too," he said, leaning over and giving her a chaste kiss. Drew leaned in, obviously wanting more, but Percy pulled away and threw his Biology book into his backpack.

"So are you going to Nico's party tonight?" he asked, closing his locker and turning to her.

She shrugged, fiddling with her hair, obviously pouting that Percy hadn't given her a good kiss. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and pressed her against the lockers, kissing her hard. She sighed into his mouth and slipped her hands underneath his shirt. Percy shivered involuntarily.

Drew pulled away with a small smile on her lips. "Maybe," she answered Percy's question, before going in for another kiss, this one a lot more passionate than the first. Percy's hands slipped underneath the waistband of her jeans and cupped her hips. Drew pressed herself against him, kissing him harder.

The warning bell rang, letting everyone know that they had two minutes to get to class. Drew pulled away slowly, licking her smug and smiling lips. Percy pushed himself off of her and she slipped away from him, swaying her hips as she went without a word. Percy watched her go, eyes glazed over and his lips tingling, before he turned and went down the opposite way towards his class.

When he got there, the bell was just about to ring. He took his usual seat next to Beck, sitting down just as the bell echoed throughout the halls. Their teacher, Mr. D, who was lounging at his desk, kindly yelled at the class to shut up.

Mr. D was a character. He was a middle-aged, balding man who seemed to have zero patience for teenagers. Why he was working at a high school was a mystery. Most of the time, he ordered his class to read a certain amount of pages and take a couple pages of notes on that section while he just sat at his desk and played Donkey Kong on his computer. He rarely ever actually got up and taught. Percy had no idea how he got a job as a teacher.

"I'm giving you a seating chart today," he announced. When the whole class groaned, he yelled, "Oh, shut up. I'm tired of hearing you all chatter when you're supposed to be working."

Percy's philosophy was that if the teacher didn't work then he didn't have to work, but before he could say anything, Mr. D was rattling off names and seats. Percy sat and waited to hear his name.

Malcolm and Chris were together. Marie and Josh. Beck and Silena, which both of them seemed pretty happy about. Clarisse and Katie. Then finally, "Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase at table ten."

Percy perked up in surprise and glanced over at table ten. It was on the far side of the classroom, near the window, and second table from the back. Not a bad spot. Annabeth was already sitting there, staring down at the table, her face unreadable. Percy thought that he saw a hint of a blush on her cheeks, but he really couldn't tell. He stood up and gathered together his things before marching over and taking the seat next to her. Annabeth glanced up and gave him a small smile before looking away.

They didn't say a word to each other as everyone else got situated. Beck and Silena were at the table next to Percy and Annabeth and Percy shot Beck a smile. He and Silena were getting cozy over there, their chairs close together and their hands clasped underneath the table. They were a cute couple and if Percy had been in a serious relationship (Drew didn't count; he honestly didn't think that relationship was going anywhere) he would want it to look like theirs.

Shaking his head, Percy turned his attention to Mr. D, who was saying, "Alright, you kids, get out your homework from last night. You have five minutes to go over it before you turn it in, and if I hear any talking _at_ _all_ , I'm giving you detention. Understood?"

There was a murmuring across the room that served as a yes and then Mr. D took his seat at his desk and the faint sounds of Donkey Kong started echoing through the otherwise silent classroom.

Percy brought out his textbook and folder, dread settling down in his stomach. He had completely forgotten that he'd had homework. Usually, when Percy forgot to do his homework, he could weasel his way into earning an extra day, but there was none of that with Mr. D. He was as strict as can be. If you didn't have your homework done on time, you got an automatic zero. And Percy's mom was going to kill him if he got another zero.

Percy quickly opened his book to the section review that they were supposed to have done. It was ten questions long, which really wasn't that bad, but it was practically impossible for Percy to do in five minutes, especially with his dyslexic eyes. He bit his lip and glanced around, desperately searching for an answer to his problem. He was about to accept defeat and just take the zero when his eyes landed on Annabeth's homework, lying flat out on the table, that neat and perfect handwriting fairly easy for Percy to read. He swallowed hard. He liked to think that he was a step above cheating, but it's not like he hadn't done it before and besides, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Quickly, he scribbled down Annabeth's answers onto his own paper, careful to make sure that his glances were subtle enough that Annabeth wouldn't notice. Unfortunately, Annabeth happened to be an incredibly intelligent person, and she caught on to Percy shenanigans rather quickly.

"Are you cheating off of me?" she whispered, barely loud enough for even Percy to hear. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her gray eyes were bright with alarm and she actually looked really cute, which was a totally inappropriate thought to have just then.

"Um," was Percy's answer. How did you tell someone that you were cheating off of them? "No?"

Annabeth looked over at his paper and read, "The phases of mitosis are prophase, prometaphase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase." She pointed at her own sheet, where the exact same sentence was written there.

Percy grimaced. "Maybe?"

Annabeth bit her lip. "I'm not going to let you cheat off of me," she whispered, shuffling her papers around and blocking her homework from sight. Before Percy knew what he was doing, he grabbed her wrist, pausing her movements. She tensed at his touch and shot him a wide-eyed look.

"Please," Percy begged, still making sure that his voice was quiet enough that Mr. D couldn't hear. "If I don't have my homework done, then Mr. D will give me a zero and my grade will plummet and my mom will actually murder me, so please, just let me copy off of your homework. Just this once."

"Sounds like that's your problem," Annabeth answered, placing her homework inside her folder. "Not mine."

"Please, Annabeth."

"No. Cheating is wrong."

"Annabeth—"

"Perry Johnson!" Mr. D's loud, irritated voice boomed out over the classroom. "Annabelle Cooper. What did I say about talking?"

Both Percy and Annabeth were silent, staring at Mr. D. Annabeth wore a wide-eyed, guilty look, while Percy looked just as irritated as Mr. D. The guy was always messing up their names, even though everyone knew that Mr. D was fully aware of what they were.

"Honestly, you all give me such terrible migraines. Both of you, detention. Meet back here at three-thirty." With that, Mr. D went back to Donkey Kong and the room was silent again. Percy glanced over at Annabeth, who was staring ahead with that same unreadable expression. Percy scrawled out a note on the bottom of his paper and elbowed Annabeth. She glanced down and read the message there.

 _Sorry_.

Annabeth looked up at him. He gave her a small smile and she bit her lip again before turning her gaze out towards the window.

 **Okay. So, like, A Torch Against The Night comes out this month and I'm feeling the feels. Has anyone read An Ember in the Ashes? Amazing book, right? But am I the only one in this entire world that ships Laia and Keenan instead of Laia and Elias? Like, I just feel like Elias and Helene are so much better suited for each other and that the romance between Laia and Elias was bordering on insta-love, where as Laia and Keenan had a lot more interaction and, I don't know, it's just cute that Laia was super annoying and irritating to Keenan at first, but then he ended up falling for her. I don't know, it's also been a while since I read An Ember in the Ashes, so maybe I just need to reread it, but I just really want Laia and Keenan together? Is anyone else experiencing this? And can I also get a heck yeah for Helene Aquilla! That girl is straight up fire. I LOVE her.**

 **Anyway, new chapter! We're finally getting some development with Percy and Annabeth, thank God. I didn't really outline this story ahead of time like I usually do, and while I know the general direction that it's headed in, I'm kind of just winging it, honestly. I was wondering when Percy and Annabeth were gonna start getting some development.**

 **Review! (And if you have similar feelings about the whole Laia-Keenan-Elias-Helene love square, please comment your thoughts!)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: All PJO characters belong to Rick Riordan.**

Chapter Six

Annabeth was already in Mr. D's classroom when Percy arrived at three-thirty that afternoon. She was writing in a little brown leather journal, her face a mixture of concentrated and tired. When Percy walked in, she looked up before quickly putting away the journal.

There was a seat next to her at the table, but Percy figured that he better sit somewhere else. Annabeth didn't seem too happy that he had gotten her detention and he doubted that sitting next to her would make her feel better. Percy took a seat at the table in the back corner, near the door, and began to survey the room.

There were four other kids in the room, not including Annabeth. Percy wasn't really surprised at the amount of kids in detention. As had happened earlier, Mr. D passed out detentions like their principal went through men – that was to say, a lot. If you were talking, automatic detention. If you didn't do your homework, automatic detention and a zero. If your presence was simply bothering Mr. D, detention. Percy found himself in here so much that he actually recognized the other four people. There was the pretty freshman girl who had a YouTube channel where she did makeup and hair tutorials. Percy had made out with her at a few parties, but strangely had never asked for her name. There was Brock Hudson, the captain of the wrestling team, and his girlfriend, Sara Lane. Then there was Liam Reeves, one of the chess club kids who had a squeaky voice, braces, and horrible acne. He was usually in here just because his voice annoyed Mr. D.

Annabeth sat at table ten, playing with her hair and staring out the window. Percy watched her for a minute, waiting to see if she would give some hint as to what her thoughts were, but she barely even moved.

Mr. D came tromping into the room, his potbelly jiggling as he walked. He wore his usual scowl and ran a hand through the three hairs that he had on his head as he said, "Alright, listen here. No talking at all, no passing notes, no phones, and no homework. This isn't a study hall. You sit and you shut up for the next half hour, got it?"

No one said anything. Mr. D looked pleased and he sat down and began clicking around on his computer. Percy would've bet fifty dollars that he was playing Donkey Kong.

Sighing, Percy stared at the clock. Really, after school detention wasn't that bad. It beat lunch detention and it was only a half hour, but the minutes just seemed to drag on and on. Percy tapped his fingers on the table and rested his chin on his backpack, which was sitting on the table in front of him. He counted the seconds and stared at the clock until his eyes burned, before finally pulling out his phone and hiding it behind her backpack.

He had one text message, a few emails, and a bunch of Instagram notifications. He checked to make sure his phone was on silent before opening up the text. The only thing worse than sitting through detention with Mr. D was having Mr. D catch you on your phone during that detention.

The text was from Ethan and it read:

 _Just talked w/ Nico. B is bringing almost her whole class!_

Percy smiled as he texted Ethan back with a lot of emojis. He had to admit that he was excited about the news; usually, Bianca only brought five or six friends to parties. But now, to have almost the entire senior class of Clarion Academy, one of the most prestigious all-girls schools in New York, would make the party so much more entertaining.

Ethan didn't reply to Percy's text, so Percy spent the next twenty minutes staring into space. When Mr. D announced that detention was over and they could all leave, Percy jumped up, shouldering his backpack and making a beeline for the door. He went to his locker first, grabbing his skateboard and a couple books for homework. When he closed his locker, he looked down the hallway and his eyes locked on Annabeth Chase. She stood at an open locker, probably twenty away from Percy's. He cocked his head, having never seen her there before.

Instinct took over and Percy walked over to Annabeth. She looked up at him when he approached, eyebrows slightly raised in a surprised and apprehensive way.

"Hey," Percy greeted, shoving one hand into his pocket and clutching his skateboard with the other. Annabeth looked away and shoved a book into her backpack. She didn't respond.

"So, listen," Percy tried, feeling a bit nervous. He honestly didn't know why he was trying to talk to Annabeth Chase of all people (come on; she sat by the _trashcans_ at lunch) but the apology slipped out of his mouth before he could tell himself that his social standing didn't merit one. "I'm sorry about getting you detention. I honestly didn't mean to."

Annabeth looked over at him expectantly.

"And I'm sorry for trying to cheat off of you," Percy quickly added. "I won't do it again."

Annabeth pursed her lips and slammed her locker shut before she began walking away. Percy rolled his eyes, again questioning why he was even doing this. It had to be the way his mom had drilled good manners into him. But Percy followed her, quickly jogging up beside her just in time to hear her say, "You know, you're lucky that I didn't have ballet today. If I'd had a rehearsal, you would have been dead."

Percy chuckled good-naturedly, but it quickly dissolved into a fake cough when he realized that Annabeth wasn't laughing along with him.

They exited the building. There were a few stragglers, but most of students were gone. There were only two cars in the parking lot. Percy followed Annabeth off of campus and onto a busy sidewalk. She shot him a side glance. "Are you following me?" she questioned.

Percy shrugged and then shot her a dazzling grin. "I thought I'd walk you home. It's the least I could do after getting you detention."

Annabeth looked at him with a questioning look, but she didn't protest.

Percy cleared his throat. "So, uh, why don't you have ballet today?" he asked, pretty much just to make small talk. The silence between them was overwhelming. "I thought you had it, like, every day."

Annabeth shook her head. "Just Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Sometimes Wednesdays. But I have a competition tomorrow and Miss Elizabeth gives us the day before a competition off so that we can rest up."

"Oh." Percy bit his lip, unsure of how to continue the conversation. Annabeth wasn't like other girls that he talked to. She wasn't drooling all over him and giggling and shooting wide-eyed glances over to her friends. She was just being . . . normal. It was a weird transition.

"So what are you doing tonight?" Percy asked, if only to keep the conversation going. He glanced around and saw that they still had about a five minute walk to her apartment – or at least to the place that Percy woke up at on Saturday.

"Resting," Annabeth said, a small, amused smile twisting her lips. "Obviously."

"Oh," Percy stammered. "Right."

They walked on for the next couple of minutes in silence. Percy kept sneaking glances over at Annabeth, staring at her bouncing blonde curls and her shiny, full lips. She really was pretty. It was a natural sort of beauty; she wore barely any make-up and her whole look appeared effortless, like she had just rolled out of bed that morning looking like a princess. Percy had meant what he said when he told Ethan that he wasn't into Annabeth. She wasn't his type – she was way too timid and good-girlish for him. But still, it was alright to have a little bit of fun every once in a while, right?

"So," Percy began, shoving his hands into his pockets, "there's this party tonight at my friend Nico's house. You should come. It'll be a lot of fun."

He meant to sound nonchalant and friendly, which he felt like he had pulled off perfectly, but Annabeth just gave a little laugh and shook her head. "Yeah, I don't think that going to a party tonight would help me in my competition tomorrow," she said. They turned a corner and Annabeth's building came into view. About fifty feet in front of them stood the canopied entrance to the building and Percy noticed a doorman standing there, smiling at people and opening the doors as they came in and out. He noticed Annabeth making her way towards him and waved.

"Besides," Annabeth continued, waving back before stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, "I know what you do at parties. _You_ , specifically. I don't want to take part in that." She bit her lip, staring at the playground across the street and absently playing with a curl.

It was quiet for a minute. Percy didn't really know what to say, which was a first for him. So he fixed his eyes on the playground and tried not to think about how awful it felt to be rejected. This girl was a nobody, he reminded himself. She had no social status. She ate by the trashcans at lunch. She had no friends. Ultimately, she didn't matter. Yet it still didn't take away the sting.

"Sorry for being so frank," Annabeth all of a sudden apologized. "Sometimes, I speak before I think."

Percy cracked a grin and he saw Annabeth visibly relax. She glanced at him through her eyelashes. "It's fine," he assured her. "It's not like I haven't had girls say that to me before."

(He failed to mention that it had only been one other girl and she had been Allie Coldwell, the single weirdest girl in school. He had tried to kiss her on a dare, and she had promptly rejected him. His friends had laughed for ages.)

Annabeth laughed a little bit. "Well," she said, slowly beginning to turn away from him and inch towards her building, "I'll see you at school on Monday?"

Percy nodded. "Good luck at your competition," he said, mostly because it was polite. But Annabeth's face colored and she wore an expression like someone had just told her that she won a million dollars. Percy wondered if anyone had ever wished her good luck before.

"Thanks," she replied. "Bye, Percy." Then she turned and walked over to her building's entrance, greeting the doorman with a warm smile. When she disappeared inside, Percy turned around and began walking towards his apartment building.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Sally's weekend getaway with Paul had gone well, according to all of the texts and calls that Percy had gotten from his mother over the past few days. So well, in fact, that Sally didn't even sound irritated when she called him Sunday night to let him know that Paul's car had broken down and they would have to stay another day in order to get it repaired.

"I'm really sorry, sweetie," she said over the phone. "I wish I didn't have to leave you alone for another night, but all of the auto repair shops near here are closed for the night and there's no way that we can afford to rent a car."

"It's okay, Mom," Percy had reassured her. "Really."

There was a muffled voice on the other line, which Percy had assumed was Paul, and his mom had laughed before saying, "I can't wait to get back home to you, Percy! I have a surprise for you."

Percy had swallowed and run a hand through his hair. "I'm excited," he'd replied, concentrating really hard on actually sounding excited. He couldn't let his mom know that he already knew that she was engaged and he definitely couldn't let her know that he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

Without his mom home on Monday, Percy had slept through his alarm and been later than usual to school that morning, which thankfully didn't earn him a detention. It did earn him a zero on the quiz that he had missed during the first twenty minutes of class, though. Which really wasn't that big of a deal. It wasn't like he would have known any of the answers anyway.

The real issue, however, was that Paul wasn't there at school, which meant that they had a substitute in English class that day. And because Paul had had to come up with lesson plans so quickly, the class was spending the hour working on their projects.

Percy had been feeling kind of good about avoiding Grover for a week. He had thought that maybe Grover wouldn't want to have to deal with Percy either and would maybe do the project by himself and just slap Percy's name on it. He should have known that his luck wasn't that good.

At the sub's command, everyone had stood up and moved to sit with their partners. Grover was sitting in a desk in the front row, staring straight ahead at the whiteboard, barely moving. His crutches were on the floor at his feet. Percy eyed the crutches, sighed, and stood up. Clearly, Grover wasn't going to move to sit over by Percy.

"Hey," Percy greeted, sitting down in the desk next to Grover.

Grover looked over at him, eyes a little bit wide, like he was surprised that Percy had sat next to him. "Hi," he replied, his eyes moving down to stare at the desk.

Those were the first words that they had said to each other in three years. This was the first interaction that they had had in three years. Percy suddenly became aware of how different they were now. Where Percy's body was too big to comfortably sit in one of these desks, Grover's small, impish frame was a perfect fit. His curly hair had grown out so that it resembled something like a miniature afro, and if Percy closed his eyes, he could almost imagine the little pieces of bread crumbs that had been an ever-present hair accessory in middle school. This one girl, Nancy Bobofit, had always thrown pieces of her sandwich at Grover during lunch. Percy had gotten into trouble for pushing her into a fountain on a field trip one time.

Percy swallowed, shaking the memory out of his head. He wanted to get this project done and hopefully never talk to Grover again. Even just sitting here with him was making Percy feel guilty.

"So," Percy started, "any ideas?"

"Well," Grover replied, scratching his head, "what do you know about the French Revolution?"

Percy thought. "Guillotines," he decided on. Really, that was the only thing he remembered. The French peasants had killed a bunch of aristocrats by chopping off their heads. Everything else about the French Revolution was a mystery to him.

"We could build one," Grover suggested. "It shouldn't be hard. We just need some wood and a blade. I can get that."

"Cool," Percy said, unsure of what else to say. The entire conversation was just dripping with awkwardness.

"When do you want to meet?" Grover asked. "And where?"

Percy thought. Based on Grover's tone, he didn't want Percy going over to his house. There weren't a whole lot of places in New York where you could comfortably build a guillotine, so Percy suggested the only place he could think of.

"You can come over to my apartment. How about Sunday?" Fridays and Saturdays weren't an option if he wanted to keep up with his social life.

Grover bit his lip and nervously tapped his fingers on the surface of his desk. "That only gives us a week to build the guillotine and get out presentation together."

Percy shrugged, not seeing what the problem was. "Wouldn't we get it all done on Sunday?"

"You can't do this big of a project all in one day." Percy was going to argue that yes, you could, he did it all the time, but Grover interrupted him by continuing, "What about if we meet tonight or tomorrow night? We could build the guillotine and then work on our presentation on Sunday."

"No offense, Grover," Percy suddenly blurted without thinking, "but I think it would be best if we get this done with as little interaction as possible."

Immediately after the words came out, Percy felt bad. Grover's face turned bright red and he looked down at his desk, looking completely mortified. Percy suddenly flashed back to a moment in middle school when Grover had finally gotten the nerve to talk to this girl that he had been crushing on all year. It had taken weeks for Percy to convince Grover that talking to her was the only way he was going to get her to like him back. They'd argued back and forth until one day, Percy had pushed Grover towards the girl and he'd had no choice but to talk to her. It had seemed to go well, too. Percy had watched from the lockers across the hall while they chatted. Grover succeeded in making her laugh. But then some kid had come up behind Grover and pulled down his pants so that he was just standing there in his Spongebob boxers. He'd been mortified then too, his face turning as red as a firetruck and his eyes welling up with tears.

He'd cried the entire way home from school that day, and he never talked to that girl again.

"Um, sorry," Percy stammered. "You're right. We shouldn't try to get it done all in one day. Tonight doesn't work for me, but you could come over tomorrow night and we could try to get the presentation done."

Grover nodded. "Sounds fine."

Percy nodded and when Grover didn't say anything else, they fell into an uncomfortable silence. Percy looked over at the rest of his classmates, all of them huddled together in pairs. Percy noticed Ethan sitting with Malcolm Pace, one of the smartest kids in their school. Malcolm was writing things down in a spiral notebook while Ethan was tearing off pieces of paper from his own notebook and throwing them at the pretty redhead Percy had noticed the other day. He caught Percy's eye and gave him an arrogant grin as he threw another piece of paper at the girl. She turned around and noticed Ethan sitting there with half a sheet of paper on his desk and an innocent expression on his face. Shaking her head, she turned back around but not without shooting him a small smile. Percy grinned when Ethan pumped his fist victoriously, frightening Malcolm.

"Percy Jackson?" the substitute called out to the class, the phone against her ear. Percy raised his hand, letting her know who he was and she continued, saying, "You're needed in the principal's office."

Percy looked back at Ethan, who has suddenly sobered up. Percy knew what he was thinking. Usually, when Percy was called to the office, Ethan quickly followed. They were normally in trouble together.

Stomach sinking, Percy stood up and made his way out the door.

 **Heyyyy. So, it's been a while. I'm so sorry about not updating. My first excuse is that I've been super busy. It's right smack in the middle of volleyball season right now, and I just started my senior year, so my life has been crazy hectic recently. My second excuse is that I've just been stuck with this story. I'm having problems with the pacing and I didn't know what to put in this chapter and my writing sort of sucks right now because I haven't had any time to read. I always write better when I've read a bunch of books. I don't know why.**

 **Anyway, here's the next chapter, finally. I know it's not my best, but at least I updated. Maybe later, I'll go back and edit it.**

 **Review!**


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